Pro-lifers sue to stop Huntsville abortion center from re-opening

Pro-life advocates in Huntsville, Alabama are suing to try to prevent the city’s abortion center from re-opening near a middle school.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Madison County Circuit Court. The lawsuit asks a judge to overturn an August 19 Huntsville Board of Zoning Adjustment vote, which upheld the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives’ business license.

The suit contends the zoning board and Jim McGuffey, the city’s manager of planning services, “erroneously determined” that Alabama Women’s Center could move into a residential district based on a 16-year-old use variance.

In 1998, the zoning board granted Huntsville Hospital a variance to open an outpatient medical clinic on the property now owned by Alabama Women’s Center.

McGuffey ruled in May – and a majority of zoning board members later agreed – that the variance should also apply to an abortion clinic.